On Monday morning, I found Ash already at the breakfast table. She had a plate of half-eaten toast in front of her, and a tall glass of milk. But she couldn't focus on her meal. Instead, she scratched irritably at her wrist, muttering incoherently.

"Not a fan of the uniform?"

She looked up at me, flustered. Some hair had fallen loose from the knot on the top of her head. The unruly curls fell across her face, sticking to her freckled cheeks that had turned pink from frustration. Ash scowled.

"Is it supposed to be this itchy?"

I smiled. "Unfortunately. It takes a couple of washes, but it eventually softens up."

She looked up at me with silent suffering, but she bunched her hands into fists to refrain from scratching any further. While she concentrated, I turned and started making my own breakfast. I had barely gotten out a bowl and the muesli when Ash let out a defiant roar.

"I can't take it!" she yelled.

She scratched furiously at her skin, her face pinched with conflicting sensations of pain and relief. I walked back towards her, trying to take her wrists in my hands. She struggled defiantly, twisting her body away from me, but I managed to lock her down.

"Jesus, Ash," I said, completely breathless by the time she finally settled. She looked at me, a furious twitch in her eyes. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"My skin is on fire," she whispered as she jittered restlessly on her chair.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Good god," I said, smiling as I released her. I pulled off my jumper and handed it to her. "Here."

Ash took it hesitantly, her fingers running over the softened material and across our school's crest. For a second, she forgot about her burning skin. She looked up at me curiously, tilting her head.

"If you scratch any harder, you're going to cut yourself," I explained. "Until we can get your uniform sorted, you can borrow mine."

"Won't you need it?"

I shook my head. "Nah. Lyon isn't that strict. As long as I have my tie and blazer, I should be fine."

That was all the confirmation she needed. She abruptly pulled her jumper off and flung it half way across the room, letting it land in a crumpled heap by the sliding doors. She sagged in defeat, sighing happily.

"Bliss," she whispered.

While she pulled my jumper over her white button-down shirt, I went back to my muesli. I was in for a busy afternoon and in-between classes I barely found the time to eat. Breakfast was my only chance to fill up.

"Ash, honey?" Cathy appeared a moment later. "I have work this morning so I'll be taking the car. Do you mind riding with Dust?"

"Mum, aren't we bothering the Reeds too much?" she groaned.

"It's really not a problem," I said.

Ash cut me a vicious side glare and fiercely whispered, "You're not helping my case."

Cathy reached over and gently kissed her daughter's forehead. "You're both going to the same place. You'll save time and money if you take the same car."

Ash grumbled something in response.

"Thanks, Dust. If you ever need any money for petrol, let me know. You've been a big help, sweetheart."

With that, Cathy picked up an apple from the fruit bowl and abruptly left for work. Ash stared into the distance, her eyes glazing over the place where her mother previously stood.

"Is there something wrong with my car?"

It was meant to come out light and humorous, but I was suddenly feeling self-conscious. Ash's reluctance had to come from somewhere, and while I wasn't constantly the neatest person in the world, I was sure I hadn't left any gym socks in the backseat that night we went to the beach. I looked down at my breakfast and stirred, trying to act indifferent about the situation.

"No." She sighed. "It's just that I don't want to be someone you have to work your schedule around. This really shouldn't have to be such a big deal. We'll be out of your hair in just a couple of weeks, you don't have to make arrangements to accommodate for me."

"Ash, I'm offering you a ride to school," I said, smiling. "You could be living on the other side of town and I'd still pick you up. I'm just that kind of person. It's really not a hassle."

She looked at me curiously, her lips parting, brow furrowing. "Have you always been this nice?"

I felt heat crept up my neck and flood quickly to my cheeks. Suddenly, my vision wasn't so great and I felt like my glasses were fogging up. I blinked a couple of times and cleared my throat, pushing the frames further up my nose.

"I guess. Is there something wrong with it?"

There was the ghost of a smile on her lips as she looked down and said quietly, "No. No, there isn't."

She remained quiet for the rest of our time in the kitchen so I took it as an opportunity to finish eating my breakfast. I washed down my muesli with a banana, and a glass of orange juice. Ash managed to get through her buttered toast now that she wasn't trying to claw her skin off.

As soon as our dishes were in the sink, we headed out.

"Won't your mum need the car to get to work?"

I shook my head as I unlocked the doors. "She's a marketing manager for a publishing company so she works at home a lot. Occasionally she'll drive out into the city for meetings and whatever, but it's mostly a pretty chill job. Speaking of jobs, I hope you don't mind hanging around after school for a few hours."

Ash slid inside the car and I followed suit. "You work?"

"On Mondays, the primary school from down the road come to the oval to play footy and I help coach."

"Is there anything you don't do?"

I laughed, starting the engine. "Coaching an under-twelves footy team isn't that impressive."

"Seems like your schedule is pretty packed. Your mum said you go for runs every morning. Then coach an after school footy team. How do you manage to balance everything between school and socialising?"

"I don't," I answered simply before I backed out of the driveway.

We drove in silence, the roads crowded with the morning traffic. Ash turned and looked out the window as we cruised down the streets. She seemed fascinated by how close to the ocean we truly were. It was a whole different side of town.

As we neared a streetlight, she turned back around in her seat and reached over to fiddle with the radio. My eyes drifted to her, catching her fingers as she turned knobs and pressed buttons. I managed to redirect my attention back to the road as the light turned green.

"Do you mind if I turn the radio on?" she asked when she managed to find a station.

The smooth voices of the radio hosts filled the car as they introduced a few of the newest hits that would be coming our way. I frowned a little, already distracted.

"I don't really listen to music when I drive," I admitted.

Her jaw dropped. "How can you not listen to music when you drive?"

I shifted in my seat. "I don't know."

I knew. But I didn't want her to know. Instead I reached over and switched it off. Instantly, my anxiety lowered, my stomach starting to settle. I slowly blew out a sigh of relief. Ash quickly caught on that it was something that made me uncomfortable, so she leaned back in her seat and didn't complain.

The rest of the ride to school was quiet. The hammering in my heart had settled into a dull throbbing and my insides had untied. I tried to start up another conversation, but Ash seemed to be lost in her own world again.

We pulled up at the school parking lot a few minutes later. Students loitered around by their cars, catching up with friends as they waited for the first bell of the day. I slowly made my way around the place, looking for a free place to park. All the good spots had already been taken. By the time I had found somewhere, everyone was already sluggishly moving towards homeroom.

I grabbed my backpack and blazer from the backseat. When I turned around, there was a familiar face pressed against my windshield. Sam grinned at us through the glass. Ash's eyes rolled so far back that all I could see where the whites.

"Morning," Sam said gleefully.

I pressed my palm against the horn. "Get off my car."

He reluctantly rolled off the hood and joined Jackson.

"Honestly," I said as I got out, "was that necessary?"

"You know he's a drama king," Jackson said.

Sam shook his head, pretending to look peeved. "I'm feeling really under-appreciated right now."

Jackson placed his entire hand against his friend's face and pushed him backwards. "Stop, you're being annoying now. Anyways, there was an announcement earlier. Everyone from the leadership team is meeting with the principal during homeroom."

I sucked in a breath and checked my watch. I still had to show Ash to the administration office so she could get her timetable and make sure she got to all the right classes. I chewed my lip, concentrating. Ash must have seen the stress in my eyes because she gave me a reassuring smile.

"I appreciate your help, but I'm pretty sure I can find my way around."

"I can take you," Sam blurted eagerly.

Ash looked like she wanted to poke her eyes out. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Yeah," I agreed, giving him a quick look, "I'm sure she'll be fine."

Sam placed his hands up in surrender. Jackson shook his head.

"Ash, we'll meet back here at the end of the day? I'll unlock the car so you can do any homework in there while you wait."

She nodded, and so with that settled, we all parted.

Something must have happened in Biology, because when Ash came out of her final class of the day. She was laughing. With Sam. Not only that, but they were both sporting the same hairstyle.

"I know, he looks better with a bun than I do," Ash said once they were close enough.

I was leaning against the back of my car, but I straightened and laughed. "Not going to lie, Sam, but that's pretty impressive."

He beamed. "I know. We're doing braids tomorrow."

"You know how to braid?"

"Fuck no, but I have three sisters. I'm sure one of them will do it for me."

Jackson appeared a moment later. As soon as he saw Ash and Sam discussing whether or not to do ponytails or straightened hair on Wednesday, he stopped dead in his tracks. He blinked a couple of times, trying to reassure himself that the scene in front of him was indeed real and not a figment of his imagination.

"What's going on?" he asked slowly.

"I have a fucking top knot, dude," Sam announced.

Jackson gave shuffled closer to Ash. "Did he feed you something? Was it one of those cookies? Because he says the little brown things are chocolate chips, but I'm doubtful."

Ash laughed. "No, we just had a good time."

"So he didn't try to hit on you?" I asked.

"Oh, he tried to hit on me—"

"A lot," Sam added.

"—but once he stopped and we had an actual conversation, I realised he's not so bad."

"That's incredible," I said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jackson said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I don't think I've ever heard a woman say that about Sam Gibson."

Sam flipped him the finger.

I laughed, but the sound was almost instantly drowned out by a loud squealing of tyres. All the senior students looked out towards the road to see a silver car speeding down the street.

"For fuck's sake," Jackson whispered.

From the corner of my vision, I could see Sam giving me a sidelong glance. I returned it before returning my attention back to the car, which took a sharp turn into the student car park. An unsuspecting student slammed down on the brakes fast enough to stop a collision. She rolled down her window and screamed profanities at the driver.

I watched as the car slowly cruised through the packed parking lot until it came to a stop right in front of where we were standing. The window rolled down, finally revealing the dangerous driver behind the wheel. He gave us an obnoxious grin before his eyes fell on Ash.

"Hey, beautiful."

Ash's boyfriend.